Now it is time for my favorite part of the review, the hands on section. I really like the design and looks of the NV5214u notebook. The machine has a glossy lid with a gray and black pattern that reminds me of carbon fiber. The lid has a metallic hint to it along with metallic silver trim and black touches. The notebook is attractive.

The big glossy screen is good for multimedia duties, but glare is an issue in any room with ambient light. I didn't find the screen to be as crisp or clear color wise as the MSI U210 that I reviewed recently, which is surprising considering that the NV52 is a multimedia notebook. Colors were decent and there were no problems with video tearing or smearing.

The keyboard is huge after reviewing so many netbooks. The keys are larger than the keys on my desktop keyboard and the NV52 has a full number pad as well. All of the keys are where they should be and have good travel and nice tactile feel. This keyboard is built for use and it shows.

The track pad is very large and has a long bar underneath that acts as the right and left mouse buttons. The track pad is positioned well, doesn't interfere with hand placement and is as accurate as you expect a track pad to be.

The machine has a good onboard sound system with Dolby Sound Room offering decent volume for listening to music or watching movies without headphones. Bass is lacking, but otherwise the sound system is good for a cheap notebook.

Like most notebooks and netbooks I review, you have to deal with bloatware on the NV52. The machine is packed with shortcuts to services like eBay and has trial software installed including Norton. I hate to have to spend time deleting software before I can install my own. I really miss the days when software came on CDs and you used it if you wanted and left the CDs in the box if you didn't.